Cooped Up
by RobinLady-in-Waiting
Summary: Max's Heat pheromones lead to trouble for her and for Alec. As if that isn't bad enough she has to deal with seizures, kidnapping goons, Ames White and being cooped up.
1. Chapter 1

Cooped Up

Had the Heat set off the seizures or vice versa?

All Alec knew was that he had a pissed off, seizing Max in the cell floor beside him.

"I bet you haven't even taken your tryptophan since the escape," he fussed at the balled up figure laying on her side.

Max glared at him, fists clenched as her body disobeyed her direct order not to shake and thrash.

"Didn't. Think. I. Needed. To." she ground out through locked jaws.

"You were hoping you didn't need to." Alec pursed his lips as he surveyed their surroundings. A fallout shelter from the 1960's, an electric current protecting all the exits and the ventilation.

Just super, he thought to himself as he flopped his lean body down onto the bare floor beside Max.

"Thought. Fixed. Heat, Too," Max struggled to speak.

"Maybe the virus wore off too?" Alec jerked when her heavy biker boot connected with his thigh.

"What? Jumping Logan would solve one of your problems." That he said after moving out of her reach.

"Get. Ou, Out." She spasmed, dark eyes turning glassy. Currents of sweat ran down her forehead and dampened the neck of the olive green t-shirt she wore.

Alec stood up and began rummaging around in the fallout shelter kitchenette. Powdered, canned or dried everything.

"Ah ha! Powdered milk." Using his perfect teeth, Alec opened the bag of grainy powdered milk. Next, he tried the tap at the sink.

"Huh, surprise, surprise, it works." He came up empty on dishware so the X-5 improvised. He let the tap run until the water was cool and then added it directly to the milk powder bag.

This is gonna taste like sawdust but it's the best we can do. Should probably look into getting some for T.C. he made a mental note.

"C'mon, Max, sit up and drink this." With his free hand, Alec helped Max sit and then he knelt down in front of her and poured some of the chunky milk into her open mouth. When she shivered he wondered if it were the seizure or the awful tasting milk. Max wrinkled her cute little nose and closed her eyes as she chugged down as much gloop as she could.

She's a better sport than I would be. That stuff is nasty, he thought, easing off after a quarter of a bag.

"Awful Horrible! Disgusting!" she exclaimed after swallowing the last dregs of the bag by herself. True to form, Alec snickered at her gag face.

"Oh the dirty jokes I could make, Maxie," he cracked up at her antics.

"Not funny!" Max hauled off and rammed her smaller fist into his shoulder. It lacked her usual strength, thankfully.

"How long have we been down here?" she asked after a few minutes of drinking tap water to chase the taste of grainy powdered milk away.

"About an hour," Alec answered, studying the high voltage conductor surrounding the small door.

"The seizures weren't as severe before." Max scooted down the wall, dark circles around her eyes and her complexion ashy.

"Manticore, making up for lost time in screwing up your life." Alec had never spoken truer words in Max's opinion.

"How's the other thing?" he asked casually, glancing at her from where he stood at the door to her right.

"Better, for now. I'm wrung out." Max shrugged, her eyes closed as she leaned her head against the dingy wall. She seemed small and fragile sitting there. A few hours before she'd seemed sexy and dangerous as Alec wove his way through the city after her. She'd trailed pheromones in her wake like magic tendrils working to draw him closer.

"I'm going to O.C.'s for a few days, until this thing's run its course." she'd said easily over the phone. Alec had just had to see if she were okay, and if she were knocking boots with anyone if he'd admit it. He'd followed her trail through Seattle to O.C.'s doorstep. She'd run when Cindy had seen him out the window. Eight sectors later the first seizure had hit and two goons had caught them. Now they waited to see what happened in a grungy fallout shelter put in the ground before either of them had been born. Hell, before Lydecker or Renfro had been born.

"Guess we should get comfy, they've got this place buttoned down pretty well," Alec sighed as he slid down the wall to sit beside Max.

"Figures," Max grumbled. They sat in silence for a while, Max dozing and Alec alone with his thoughts. He took a deep breath, inhaling Max's pheromone tinged scent. The Heat had subsided but it's faint notes lingered.

She smells good even without Heat pheromones. All cherry lip balm and fresh air from riding her Ninja, Alec smiled to himself at the thought.

From his left he heard Max whimper and looked over to see her face crumpled. Bad dream. He wiggled out of his coat and draped it around her. Quietly, he scooted over and leaned her against his side. Her weight felt right pressed to him.

She's gonna punch me when she wakes up and sees my coat around her, but it's worth it to see her at peace, he thought. If bitching and besting him made her feel like a queen bee, gave her strength to help their transgenic brethren he'd take it. Rare moments like this made her attitude worth the effort.

You worry about all of us but who worries about you, he wondered silently, looking down at her. When you named me you claimed me for your own, you know that, Maxie. The best and most difficult assignment I've ever received, he decided as he too leaned his head against the wall and settled in to doze.


	2. Elroy and Wally

"That wanker 'ad better 'ave the money when 'e gets 'ere or I'm gonna grind 'is bones for my bread." A heavy, cockney accent reverberated down the tunnel toward the transgenic captives.

"Max," Alec hissed. Blinking, she roused from against his shoulder. A frown puckered her brow as she looked at the coat covering her.

"You ready for a fight?" Alec asked with a cocky smirk on his face as he slid back into the coat.

"Born ready," she answered, her own grin spreading.

As the door of the fallout shelter began to open the two transgenics stood ready to fight. Alec took the lead. He slammed the door against the long gun the first goon stuck in ahead of himself. The force bent the barrel. Three other goons put their shoulder to the door and forced their way inside. Alec and Max made short work of disarming the muscle bound goons and leaving them lying broken on the fallout shelter floor.

"C'mon, let's stop by O.C.'s, let her know I'm okay," Max directed as they exited the fallout shelter into a suburb. Together they made their way across town to O.C.'s before heading back to T.C.

The farther Max walked the better she felt. Behind her Alec stayed quiet, always on the lookout for trouble. A nagging thought kept popping up as she navigated the side streets; waking up beneath Alec's coat. It had smelled of leather and of him. The scent hadn't left her senses nor had his warmth where she'd lain against him.

The fallout shelter wasn't cold. Why would he lay his coat over me, he's anal about that coat, she wondered. The thought was pushed out of her mind as they arrived at the apartment building. A few people milled around on the dark streets. Candles flickered in several windows, including Cindy's.

"Did you walk or ride?" Max asked quietly, struggling for something to say.

"I flew," the X-5 retorted.

Max gave him a withering stare.

"I walked, followed your scent." The transgenic looked both ways and stepped out into the street, leaving Max to wonder why he followed her to Cindy's.

Maybe the Heat is why he put his coat over me. He was trying to dampen my scent?

That didn't feel right.

"You comin' or not? I ain't got all night?" Alec's irritated voice broke into Max's thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get yer panties in a wad," she shot back.

"Ha, ha. I'm a good soldier remember, I go commando." Alec wagged his brow suggestively at her before smirking.

"Ewww, T.M.I. So much more than I needed to know." Max made a production of pretending to stick her finger down her throat. They bickered back and forth until they reached the apartment.

"Yo, CIndy, it's Max," she called from the front door.

"Hey, boo. I was worried about you. You took off like a shot." The two friends embraced quickly before Max took a seat on the broken down couch covered in a printed bed sheet. Alec wandered in and took a seat in an armchair.

"Pretty boy here give you any trouble?" Cindy gave him a warning glare, her arms crossed over a brightly colored halter top barely brushing her midriff.

"I'm right here, O.C., in the room in fact." Alec huffed.

"So?" O.C. and Max said in unison.

"Whatever. I'm going back to T.C." With an eye roll, Alec headed for the door.

"I'll be along in a bit." Max shoved off her shoes and curled into the corner of the couch beside Cindy.

"I might tell the sentries not to shoot you." Alec waved before closing the door behind him.

"I thought you were in Heat. Shouldn't you be jumpin' your boy's pretty ass?" Cindy demanded as soon as she thought Alec had reached the street.

"It's weird. I was in Heat and then a seizure hit, snapped me out of it. Alec was on my heels when it hit. A couple of goons with guns had been trailing us. When he'd stopped to help me they got the drop on us, took us to an old fallout shelter. Alec took care of me; never complained." Max's brow furrowed as she recalled the evening's events.

"You sure that's Alec then, 'cause boy don't stop complaining 'bout something or other." Cindy observed dryly.

"Alec was almost tender, I guess. It's weird but sometimes it's like he actually cares about people." Maybe there was more to Alec than his self-serving tom cat persona. Just maybe.

"I'm just glad he brought you back safe, boo. That's all that matters. That and ya'll didn't do the nasty, 'cause then I'd have to beat his pretty ass." Cindy leaned over and gave her friend a quick hug, making Max smile.

"If you call his ass pretty too often you'll give him a complex. He already thinks he's God's gift to women." Max grinned.

"Compared to Normal, Alec's ass IS pretty." Both women laughed. They talked for a little while before Max pulled away reluctantly to head back to T.C..

 **Terminal City …**

Before Max headed to her apartment she dropped by Joshua's place. Paint spatter, the smell of Twinkies and faintly, wet dog greeted her at the front door.

"Hey, big fella," she called out upon entering.

"Hey, little fella," the tall dogman greeted from the kitchen.

Max made her way through the cramped living room, it's battered furniture and peeling wallpaper as familiar as her own place.

"What ya cookin', Josh?" She peered into the aluminum cooker filled with boiling water on his stove.

"Mac 'n cheese," he grinned as he used a wooden spoon to stir the elbow macaroni.

"Alec said you had seizures. Little fella okay?" He turned those big puppy dog eyes on her, leaning down to examine her for himself.

"I'm tired but fine, Josh. No worries." Max smiled brightly to assure the worried Nomalie.

"What about other thing. What about Heat?" he persisted.

Max gave him the same answer she'd give O.C.; the seizure had taken care of her Heat. She didn't tell anyone her fear of losing control during her seizures, or the feeling of vulnerability. It had been the last thing Max had wanted Alec to see from her. Still, he'd been just as vulnerable over Rachel and to an extent about Ben and the bomb planted in his head.

Josh turned from the stove, leaned in close and took a big, noisy whiff of Max.

"Heat bitch all gone. Just smell Max now," he pronounced confidently.

"Nice to know, big fella," she answered, trying to hide her embarrassment.

A few minutes later they sat down to mac 'n cheese dinner with Vienna sausages, a favorite of Joshua's.

"Thanks for dinner, Josh. I'll see you tomorrow." Max slipped into her coat after she and the Nomalie washed their few dirty dishes.

"Bye, little fella." Joshua pulled her into a big, brotherly hug, his strong arms enveloping her much smaller frame.

"G'night, Josh," she finally managed.

 **White's Lair …**

"Hello, Mr. Lambert. What news do you have for me?" Agent Ames white leaned back in his desk chair, the lights of Seattle visible behind him through the eighth floor windows.

Elroy turned to his sidekick, Wally who swallowed hard and tried not to defecate in his already soiled pants.

"Mister White, sir, we 'ad two of 'em,"

"I'm sensing a but coming, Mr. Lambert. I do not pay for 'buts'." White tapped his index finger on the large, solid desk.

"Them soddin' mutants got away. They surprised me an' Wally when we walked through the door. One of 'em was sick is 'ow we caught 'em in the first place." Elroy tried to meet Ames White's gaze but couldn't. Instead he looked at the other man's left ear. His heart beat could only be described as techno music in nature as he fought down his fear of the man seated in front of him.

"She sure seemed alright when she kneed me in the 'nads, Elroy." Wally withered under his boss' glared and mumbled, "Sorry."

"What do you mean, 'sick'. Sick how?" White's eyes lit up as he pressed for more information.

"She shook all over, could barely walk. The other 'un 'ad to carry 'er. That's 'ow we caught 'em. Ran 'em down on our Vespas." Elroy explained.

"Seizures. Interesting," White said to himself.

"Keep searching for the mutants. You'll get paid only when you find them, do you understand?" White's stare bore into Elroy with a white hot intensity.

"Understood, Mr. White." Elroy and Wally breathed easier once they'd reached the sidewalk below White's office.

"I need a pint after that, don't you, Elroy?" Wally asked hopefully.

"That I could, Wally. That I could."


	3. Missing

**A Few Days Later …**

"Shut it off, Wally!" Elroy shouted over the sound of the television.

"I'm watching it, Elroy. It's just gettin' to the good part," the other man whined. "The crooks distracted the good guys and kidnapped the girl," he explained petulantly.

Elroy turned from the sports pages to stare at the younger man slumped on the couch.

"Say what?" he demanded.

"I said I don't want to turn off the T.V." Wally began to sit up, wary of Elroy's reaction.

"No. I mean the other bit about the crooks."

"The crooks distracted the good guys and kidnapped the girl?" Wally turned his head to the left and blinked rapidly.

"You're a bloody genius!" Elroy stood up and crossed the few paces from the kitchenette to the couch.

"What for?" the other man wondered.

"We'll catch one of the mutants and ransom 'im. White gets 'is mutant and we get our dough. Bloody brilliant, man." Elroy clapped his sidekick on the shoulder, excited at the prospect of getting paid and getting away from Ames White.

"Okay. I get it now." Wally relaxed. "So, how do we nab one of the mutants?"

"We distract the good guys and nab one of 'em." Elroy's narrow eyes shone with dark cunning.

Tunnels beneath T.C. …

Joshua carried the extra large thermos of hot coffee carefully as he descended the ladder into the warren of tunnels beneath the besieged city.

"Hey, Joshua," an X-6 greeted the Nomalie.

"Hello, Aston. Brought coffee." Josh lifted the battered thermos for the two sentries on sewer duty to see.

"Great, any sugar or milk?" the other sentry asked: another X-6 named Idelle.

"Only got coffee. Joshua sorry."

"Thanks anyway," Idelle smiled as she took the thermos the big Nomalie handed her. The three stood talking for a few minutes before Josh turned to leave. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the X-6's turn toward the tunnel farther down. Listening hard, he heard the sound of footsteps, Normals from their lack of stealth.

"Stay here, Josh. We'll be right back," Idelle warned as she switched into soldier mode.

"Josh can help," he offered. The two X-6's looked at each other, a silent conversation going on.

"Thanks, Josh, but we need someone to guard the rear, in case someone gets past us. Okay?" Aston flashed him a smile.

"Okay, Joshua stay here." Joshua squatted down, clutching the thermos to his chest as he waited for the sentries to return. He felt a whine rising in his throat but tamped it down. It wouldn't do for the intruders to hear him.

The sound of a strangled scream brought Joshua to full attention. He detected the scent of copper over the sewer smell a second later.

"Joshua coming," he said mostly to himself. He set the thermos down and started down the tunnel toward the noise. Five strides later the Nomalie felt something punch him in the back, the impact slamming him against the tunnel wall. He struggled to reach what he now knew to be a dart sticking out of his shoulder. The Carfentanil tranquilizer they'd loaded it with began to work quickly. The more Josh grabbed at the dart the more he slid down the tunnel wall until finally he sat slumped against the wall in the muck. Eyes barely open, Josh sat helplessly watching two men approach.

"Well, what 'ave we 'ere, Wally?" the first said with a ruthless grin.

"Ah, man, looks like a werewolf, Elroy," the other one answered, staying close to the opposite side of the tunnel.

"Well wolfie 'ere's gonna get us lots and lots of money." The one called Elroy ordered his sidekick to help him carry Joshua back through the tunnel.

Joshua vaguely wondered what had happened to Idelle and Aston before his eyes closed for a long while.

 **Alec's Apartment …**

Alec flopped down on the beat up mattress he'd scrounged just after coming to T.C. with a tired sigh. It had been a hell of a day. There had been squabbles, supply shortages, and everyone wanted a minute of the S.I.C's time. Now all he wanted was five minutes of peace and quiet.

TAP, TAP

"Alec, have you seen Joshua today?" Max's voice interrupted Alec's quiet. He pulled a pillow over his face to muffle a growl. Max stepped into the bedroom doorway, arms crossed as she leaned against the door frame.

"No. I've spent most of the day looking for Aston and Idelle. They still haven't reported back," Alec answered as he sat back up.

"And you're just NOW telling me this!" Max threw a dirty t-shirt at him that had been laying on his dresser top.

"You've been busy, remember? I've got John-John and Harvey combing the sewers for them.

"Now Joshua is missing." Max scowled, a pucker in her dark brows. "That's not a coincidence."

"Maybe he's just lost track of time painting or something. You know how he gets." Alec tried to placate her but his own thoughts raced in the same directions as Max's.

"No, something is wrong." Max looked at Alec, her big, brown eyes filled with worry.

"Let's go look, or else you won't quit bitchin'," Alec grumbled, trying to act like he couldn't imagine the worst.

"Do you have to be such a jerk, Alec?" Max retorted as she pushed off of the door frame.

"Takes one to know one, Maxie," he shot back.

"And you're the one I know," she boomeranged. Together, they left Alec's apartment and headed toward Joshua's place.

Max walked silently beside Alec, her face an emotionless mask. Part of her worried about Joshua and part of her replayed the time she'd spent with Alec in that fallout shelter.

Why was he nice? Was it the Heat pheromones? Was it the seizures? A combination maybe, she wondered. Maybe it was just a lark, she tried to reassure herself.

"Yo! Earth to, Max."

Max snapped out of her thoughts as Alec's hand waved in front of her face.

"What!" she demanded, almost running into him in her daze.

"I said, do you want to stop off at H.Q and see about Aston and Idelle or go straight to Joshua's?" Alec pursed his lips as he looked down at her quizzically. Max couldn't help the pull she felt to those lips and the beauty in his gem quality green eyes.

"Uh, Joshua's," she answered, tearing herself away from Alec's gaze.

"Lost in space, there, Max?" the other X-5 teased. She gave him a sneer for his trouble.

What the hell was that about, Max asked herself. She took a deep breath to stem the blush she felt rising. All around them transgenics moved along about their business, a busy little ant farm inside Seattle.

Joshua had chosen an apartment on the third floor of an old, red brick building because of the sky light in the hallway running between the living room, past the, bathroom and toward the dining room. He said it let him see the sky like he never had at Manticore. The view from the balcony also allowed him inspiration, plenty of natural light and fresh air.

Alec and Max blurred up to the top floor, unafraid of attracting human attention in their toxic sanctuary. The narrow stairwell and dingy light didn't bother the transgenics. Max knocked quickly before trying the doorknob. Unlocked. Max and Alec exchanged a concerned look.

Max turned the doorknob and carefully let herself inside. She looked to the left while Alec surveyed from the middle to the right, toward the balcony.

"Hey, big fella. Are you here?" Max called, her voice hollow in the empty apartment. Cautiously, the pair walked through the empty rooms. In the kitchen they found the old fashioned percolator still plugged into the wall and the extra large thermos he took the sentries coffee in gone from it's usual spot.

"I'll get a search party together." Alec's expression hardened, morphing from concern to determination.

"We'll need Dix to search the security cameras again." Max began moving toward the door, frantic energy rolling off of her.

Twenty minutes later Alec walked into H.Q., three X-5's and three Nomalies following him. Max turned from looking over Dix's shoulder when she sensed Alec and the others.

"Joshua went down into the sewer here," she turned to a map on one wall, "but he never reappeared at this exit or any of the others."

"We just found Aston and Idelle. They'd been tranqed; elephant darts." Alec held out two large bore darts, dried blood at the tips. The S.I.C.'s stormy expression matched his glacial voice. From the fire in his eyes one could expect thunder and lightning to follow.

"Are they in Med Bay?" Max stood up, ready to move.

"Yeah, I'm headed that way." Alec hitched his thumb toward the door. He turned to follow as Max rushed by him. Four buildings later they entered a former veterinary clinic, the closest thing to a medical facility T.C. had to offer. Early on someone had broken the neon lights and spray painted across the lettering on the windows. Now the windows sported cardboard, to shield the community from prying, Hover Drone eyes.

Max marched through the door, her focus on the two sentries in the back. Medics had straightened up the old vet clinic and repurposed most of the equipment and scavenged more from across T.C. Beat up, plastic chairs set against the wall of the waiting room, the reception desk empty.

In the first exam room on the right Max walked in to see Idelle laying on a large, metal table. Her beautiful face almost glowed in the fluorescent light trained directly on her pale face. An X-6 from the look of him, stood near the table, a clipboard in hand.

"How is she, Lenus?" Max asked, giving Idelle only a cursory glance.

"She's steady. If she wasn't one of us the tranq would have killed her," he answered grimly his gray eyes downcast.

"Is she able to talk, answer questions?" Max persisted, now turning to the young woman in question.

"No, but Aston is awake." Lenus pointed to an exam room across the hall.

"Thank you." Max nodded before leaving the room. She heard Alec ask Lenus a few more questions before he joined her in Aston's room.

"Hey, buddy. How you feeling?" Alec asked.

"I'm fine, uh, Sir," Aston murmured.

"What happened?" Max cut in. She missed Alec's eye roll at her demanding tone.

"Joshua brought us coffee," Aston's broad lips quirked to smile but he didn't, "then we heard someone in the tunnel. Josh wanted to come with us but we said we needed someone to stay back and guard the rear. We went on down the tunnel and were hit with what felt like a baseball bat." Aston looked away, ashamed that they'd been incapacitated so easily.

"What happened to Joshua?" Max's brow creased in worry as she listened. Alec ached to pull her close and tell her that their friend would be just fine.

"Last I saw, he'd come to help us and was hit with a tranq. Two Normals dragged him away." The younger transgenic lay back, exhausted.

"What did they look like, sound like? Anything." Max pressed harder.

"They were wearing ski masks but one of them had a bad, cockney accent and the other was American."

Alec put a hand lightly on Max's forearm before she could grill Aston further. She turned on him, ready to snarl.

"Thanks, buddy." Alec flashed a reassuring smile before taking Max's arm and dragging her out of the room.

"What the hell, Alec! I wasn't done questioning him," she accused, staring up at him.

"He's on our side, remember?" he shot back. "Besides, I think we already know who has Joshua and where they've taken him." Alec stood with his arms crossed and brow raised as he met her gaze.

"The fallout shelter?" Realization crossed Max's face.

"Yup," Alec quipped.

"Let's go," Max ordered.

"Woah, hold on. We need a game plan. If we go in there guns blazing they might kill Joshua," the S.I.C. pointed out.

"Okay, smart ass, what's your plan?" Max crossed her arms, one hip cocked out and one brow raised.

"Follow me, oh exalted leader," Alec smirked before leading Max back to H.Q. and to Dix's corner.

"Dix, you got that robot cam up and running yet?" The Nomalie grinned before diving under his station and pulling out a medium size cardboard box. Inside appeared to be a child's remote control robot with a small camera and battery pack attached.

"With this we can see what's going on down the ventilation shaft without getting fried." Dix began running the unit around the room, performing a complex series of maneuvers.

"And how does the robot keep from getting fried?" Max pointed out. She'd had enough of Alec's theatrics for one day. Joshua needed her.

"It's grounded, shouldn't hurt a thing," Dix assured them.

"Pack it up and let's go already." Max swirled on her heel and marched out of the room.


	4. Sonic Cannon

**White's Lair …**

"Mr. White, a Mister Elroy Lambert to see you," the secretary announced in a deliberately soothing tone. She'd seen and heard too much to get on Ames White's bad side.

"Send him in, please, Cynthia." Ames shelved a few files he'd been working on and straightened his tie.

Elroy Lambert swaggered through the door, his grimy fists hanging off his sport coat's dingy lapels. Wally walked in behind him, a pleased look on his moon face.

"Well, Mr. White, Wally an' I 'ave one of them mutants, captured an' in our back pocket." Leroy rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Which one? X-5-452 or X-5-494?" White masked his excitement but couldn't extinguish the ghoulish gleam in his light colored eyes.

"No, a dogman," Wally piped up from behind Elroy.

"A what?"

Wally stiffened instinctually.

"We plan on ransomin' the dogman, capturing the other two in the process," Lambert explained with more bravado than backbone.

It wasn't the worst plan White had ever heard. The X-5's just might be lured out of their toxic city afterall. X-5-452 had always been a bleeding heart when it came to her own people. A mistake.

"Tell me more," White flashed a gleaming smile, reminding both Wally and Elroy of sharks they'd seen in pre-Pulse television reruns.

 **The Sewers Outside T.C. …**

Alec led Max and their mixed team of transgenics and Nomalies. Max may have been the leader of T.C. but they all knew it was Alec that led this mission. She'd swallow her own tongue before admitting that she felt like a lowly grunt among the better trained escapees.

Alec raised his fist, signalling everyone to stop and stay silent. After crawling through miles of sewers and dodging Sector Cops and Familiar sentries no one felt like talking. Dix inched forward, the robot in a backpack. Within moments he had a clear view of the fallout shelter through the ventilation shaft. Max gave him a questioning look.

Alec motioned for one of the Nomalies to head farther through the tunnel and cut the electricity. The younger X-6 only nodded before disappearing. A few minutes later the electrical field surrounding the ventilation shaft and all the lights shut off. The transgentics' eyes adjusted almost instantly. One of the transgenics hefted the grate over the vent away and suspended the robot on a rope to have a look around. After it explored the room the transgenics jumped into the fallout shelter, leaving two of them behind to guard the rear; a boring job until all the sudden it wasn't.

"I see him. Joshua is in the first bedroom," Dix whispered excitedly.

"Guards?" Max asked, exchanging a relieved look with Alec.

"No, and I've scanned the whole room, even the ceiling," the Nomalie spoke without looking away from the miniscule screen on the controls he held.

"Let's go," Max ordered.

"Whoa, Max. It's a trap." Alec caught her arm, turning her around to face him.

She looked down at his hand and then raised dark, angry eyes to meet his. "We got this, Alec. Right now Josh needs help." Alec ground his teeth as she pulled away. Her need to protect her friends was both a strength and a weakness. Max was Alec's weakness.

Cautiously, Alec led Max into the bedroom where Joshua lay on the cold, cement floor. The big dogman lay so still, his long hair matted and blood dried on his face. He'd been beaten and tranquilized. Alec figured they'd used a cattle prod from the defensive wounds on Joshua's palms.

Max dropped to her knees and immediately felt for a pulse at Joshua's neck. Alec watched relief cross her face. Big fella would be okay.

"He needs to get back to T.C. Help me carry him." Alec shouldered the long gun he carried and between them they dragged Josh into the common room where a transgenic and a Nomalie stood waiting with Dix for further instructions.

"Dix, you and the others take Joshua back to T.C."

Alec saw a dangerous fire in Max's eyes, the kind reserved for Lydecker and White; for those who threatened her family.

God, she's so beautiful, he thought.

"Yo, asshat, are you gonna help me search this dump or stand there?" Max glared at him, as usual.

So beautiful but such a mouth, Alec thought ruefully.

"Lead on, Maxie," he retorted, one brow raised. The two began to systematically search the fallout shelter for any clue to their captors' identity. The goons Max and Alec had fought didn't seem like criminal mastermind types. There had to be someone smarter calling the shots. Max suspected White and his Familiars.

"C'mon, Max, there's nothing here but spiders." Crumbling furniture, old books and a few bits of canned food and non-perishables remained.

"This doesn't make sense. Where did the kidnappers get tranquilizers strong enough to knock Joshua and us out? Where's the trap?" Max's brow furrowed in concern and concentration.

"I don't know, that's why we oughta … " Alec trailed off. He bent double at the waist and held his ears and chest in turn. Max collapsed a moment later, her heart beating irregularly and her body jerking uncontrollably.

Gotta help Max, Alec focused, his body seeming to tear itself apart. He crawled toward where she lay, every inch a mile.

"What 'ave we 'ere, love birds." Elroy's cockney accent barely penetrated the pain and confusion zipping along every nerve the transgenics possessed. He bent down and took Alec's rifle; like taking candy from a baby. Alec tried to swipe at the weapon, his fingers only centimeters too short.

"Tutt, tutt, boy-o. We got plans for the likes o' you." The cockney accented bastard grinned. Heavy-duty headphones protected the men's hearing.

"Wally, fetch the welding torch, seal the 'oles. I'll keep these two company a while longer." Elroy turned a dial on a small, satellite dish shaped device he held. Alec recognized it as a sonic cannon. Manticore had used the high powered sound wave device in Psy-Ops testing. Max and Alec both screamed in pain, their brains beginning to scramble and their stomachs roiling. Blood began to trickle from their ears. They barely felt the thud of tranquilizer darts hit them in the thighs.


	5. Into Trouble

**Downtown Seattle …**

Elroy burst into the office, Cynthia and Wally trailing after him, one glaring the other confused.

"What the hell?" White demanded, rising from his leather desk chair.

"We came for our reward. The ruse worked wonders an' now we 'ave BOTH of 'em in the clink."

Elroy mistook the gears of Ames White's evil machinations for satisfaction.

"Nicely done, gentleman," White beamed from ear to ear. "I'll have Cynthia cut a check for the reward. As soon as you've led me to them I'll release the money."

"'Old up, Mr. White, we want the reward UP FRONT. We don't like the thoughts of tangling wi' them mutants again for nothing." Elroy leaned into White's personal space, the bounty hunter's greasy face tilted to his left.

"Half," White stated.

"A reasonable compromise, Mr. White. We 'ave a deal." Elroy put his hand out to shake and seal the deal only to be ignored.

"Follow Cynthia for your bounty. I have an extraction team to arrange," White dismissed them.

 **Later …**

Alec woke up with a pounding migraine and the taste of bile at the back of his tongue. Slowly and with pain, he uncurled himself from the fetal position and did a mental scan of his body.

Brain: painful but working, Eyes: blurred but improving, Ears: ringing but improving, Internal organs: bruised but would be okay, Limbs: stiff but useable

Max: …

Max lay in the fetal position only inches away, blood dried on her ear lobes and down her neck.

I hope she feels better than I do or she's gonna be hell to deal with, Alec grimaced.

"Max, wake up!" He shook her by the shoulder, wary of speaking too loudly. She only curled up tighter. Her forehead creased and that full lower lip he'd been thinking of kissing poked out a little farther. Slowly, Alec took a deep sniff.

Thank God it's not Heat, he thought silently. At least if it had been Manticore biology he'd have something to blame it on, instead he realized it was really him that wanted to kiss her.

How long's that thought been kicking around in there, he wondered.

"C'mon, Maxie, wake up." Alec shook her a little harder, leaning over closer to talk into her ear.

"No. Go 'way," she groaned.

""Fraid I can't, Maxie. Get up," he prodded. Alec watched her eyes flutter before she opened them. Milk chocolate brown irises slowly focused on his face.

"What happened?" Her voice slurred the words.

"A sound cannon. We dropped like rocks and they tranquilized us," Alec explained as Max unfurled beside him on the cement floor. From the way she blinked and held her head she felt as much like crap as Alec did.

"What about Josh and the others? Think they had time to get away?" She flexed her limbs before standing up to survey the nearly empty bedroom.

"Hope so." Alec stood up as well. They fanned out and began to check for an escape route. The ventilation shaft, exit and the makeshift entrance into the sewers had all been welded shut.

"Just great! I feel like peas in a can in here." Max banged her fist against the wall.

"I don't think my Swiss Army pocket knife has a big enough can opener," Alec quipped before pursing his lips in annoyance. He looked up in surprise when he heard Max laugh. An honest to God smile crossed her face. He hadn't seen one of those but once or twice since they'd met and they were usually directed at Joshua. Alec's heart nearly stopped in his chest.

"Remember the last time we were trapped like this?" Max looked down at her boots, a small smile still on her face.

"Which time?" Alec ventured, wondering at the destination of the conversation.

"Manticore. The first time we met." She looked up at him, tucking a strand of long, dark hair behind her ear. That damn hair and how badly he wanted to run his fingers through it.

Knowing Max, she'd head butt if I tried, Alec thought silently. His fingers flexed, wanting to touch the silky strands, but he resisted, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Ah, the bad 'ole days," he commented, the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Getting out of Manticore was easier than this. At least the whole thing wasn't underground."

That was a fact.

"It was for the Nomalies in the basement," Alec pointed out.

"Not anymore. Let's get out of here. I for one have had enough confinement for a lifetime." Max's expression hardened, her eyes taking on that haunted look that made Alec want to burn Manticore down - again.

"I saw some cleaning supplies in the bathroom. Let's do a little chemistry, shall we?" Alec suggested, a dangerous twinkle in his eye.

"Hmm, my favorite subject today." A matching twinkle lit Max's eyes. Together they gathered all the cleaning supplies from the bathroom and from beneath the kitchen sink.

"Let's see. We have hydrogen peroxide. Someone wanted to stay blonde though the Apocalypse," Max muttered. "Here's some vinegar, and table salt." When she glanced up Alec didn't hide the smile on his face, didn't give her a hard time. Instead, he handed her the spray bottle and a makeshift funnel he'd made.

"What? I know that gleam in your eye. You're thinking up something perverted." Max razzed him playfully. Alec had to wonder if she were somehow still in Heat.

"Who me?" he said all innocence and boyish charm.

"Yeah, you." She shook her head. They worked in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before it came time to apply the acid to the ventilation shaft.

"Boost me up," Max said, grabbing the spray bottle.

"You boost me up," Alec shot back, not eager to have her biker boot prints on his clothes.

"Huh, Hell no. You boost me up. I'm lighter." Max put one hand on her hip, daring him.

"Max, you have super strength, use it." They stood eyeing each other, at an impasse. "Unless you don't think you're capable of lifting me up on your shoulders, that is," Alec prodded, just for the hell of it.

"I'm plenty capable of kicking your ass. I don't WANT to lift you. It'll be steadier with the smaller of us on top." Alec felt his pulse quicken at the sight of her eyes narrowing and her fist clenching.

"If you like being on top, Maxie, I'm game," he leered suggestively.

"Shut up and let's do this bitch." Max rolled her eyes and slugged him on the shoulder.

"Down on your knees. I'll ride you."

Alec burst out a laugh. He couldn't believe she'd spoken that particular double entendre. Max hung her head, cursing under her breath, cursing Alec, the kidnappers, herself, whoever came to mind. Alec wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Nevermind, I'll find my own way up there." Max turned away and stormed off.

"Max, come back. You got to admit, that was funny." Alec jogged to catch up to her as she headed toward the first available bedroom.

"Every time I think I can talk to you like we're friends you act juvenile. I don't need a child as back up. I need a man," she thundered, turning on him, unshed tears in her eyes.

"Like Logan?" Alec's good mood dried up instantly.

"Yes, like Logan," she agreed.

"Funny, it wasn't Logan you called on when Josh went missing. It isn't Logan who's standing here right now." Every time he thought he'd taken a step forward she slammed him backward. They could argue for years about him vs. Logan and Alec felt like he'd lose every time.

"You know what, I don't know why I bother. We try to be friends but we just can't. Neither one of us makes enough effort I guess." He couldn't try anymore. The wear and tear had shredded him.

"Now is not the time for this, Alec. We can argue about it when we get away from whoever's gonna use that sound cannon and tranquilizers on us again." Max set the spray bottle on the floor and took hold of the cot in the corner. She easily folded it up and began walking back toward Alec and the door. Her face masked emotion, all but her dark eyes. He'd seen that kind of pain in her eyes when she'd told him about Ben, when she talked about her siblings, when she talked about something she'd lost. Alec hated himself for it. He let her pass.

Max unfolded the cot, leaned it up against the wall. Carefully, she used it as a crude ladder to get up to the ventilation shaft. The old wood creaked under even her slim weight. Alec held himself back from offering help. It would only prolong the argument and make things worse.

The cot's lengthwise frame broke in the middle, folding and dropping Max to the ground. Alec watched her and the bottled acid fall in slow motion. He couldn't blurr fast enough or be in two places at once to keep her from being doused.

Max landed on her right side, ass first. A volley of milky liquid kept moving, landing across her arm.

"Max!" Alec's voice rang out in the empty room. He heard her land with an 'ooff', followed by a hiss of pain. He nearly slid to her side on his knees.

"What the hell?" she managed, dazed. His first touch elicited a string of fiery curses.

"Chill out, Max." He gently helped her out of her jacket sleeve to see the angry, red burns. They weren't life threatening but irritating as hell.

"It hurts, you jerk," she pouted.

"Mostly your pride, Maxie." Alec left her sitting as he retrieved what was left of a first-aid kit and some water. He quickly irrigated the burns on her forearm and wrapped gauze around a sterile pad for each. X-5 healing meant she wouldn't need it for more than an hour or two but the bandaging would keep it from rubbing against the inside of her jacket sleeve.

"Now, you want me to kiss it and make it all better," Alec offered in his best baby-talk voice. Max rolled her eyes in response.

"For someone who claims he doesn't make enough effort to be a friend you were awful quick to the rescue." She held his gaze, her brow furrowed as she studied him.

"We fight, we save each other's ass. We communicate in sarcasm and you slapping and punching me." Alec shrugged, a half-hearted smile pulling up the corner of his mouth. His eyes betrayed his mask; his armor.

"We need to work harder at real communication. Both of us." Max's hand moved to touch his arm, her hand pausing just above the material of his jacket sleeve.

"I will if you will," Alec said softly as he laid his hand over hers. Max nodded, her face lighting up. They'd made a truce, at least for the moment. Alec hoped it lasted. He had enough strife to last a lifetime from White and the breeding cult, from Ordinaries, and the wear and tear of maintaining Terminal City.

"Alright, since we're working on our communication skills, listen up," Max teased, breaking the chick flick moment.

"I'm all ears, Max," he teased back, cupping his ears.

Max turned her face to look up at the grate some eight feet from the ground, reluctantly pulling her gaze from Alec's. "I think if you let me sit on your shoulders I could use the acid and then punch the grate out."

"And leave little 'ole me?" Alec feigned offence.

"Haha. Once I get up there I'll pull you up." Max shook her head at his antics.

"Let's do this," Alec said as he bent his right leg. Taking her cue, Max used his thigh as a springboard to throw her leg over his shoulder and clamped her calves across his chest. With one punch, she busted the grate and then let it drop to the floor. Alec eased down for her to stand a moment later.

With a clear path, the X-5's flexed and jumped the eight feet from floor to grate, Max first. With their enhanced strength and agility, crawling up the metal pipe wasn't a problem. They found themselves standing on the perimeter of a shabby estate. Evergreen trees overshadowed the overgrown lawn. An empty pool littered with leaves and debris from decades of storms lay only a few yards from a quickly rotting mansion built to resemble an Alpine chateau. A tennis court lay beyond that, the net strung across the middle sagging and frayed. Alec and Max took deep breaths of the fresh air.

"We need to get back to T.C., check on Joshua and the others." Max pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as they surveyed the lay of the land. Max squinted at the sky, taking a bearing on the tallest building in sight.

"What about Elroy and Wally and their pet sound cannon?" Alec pointed out. He didn't fancy having his central nervous system liquified again.

Max wondered if it were a question or a roundabout suggestion that they take them down. It was communication and that was a step in the right direction.

"Would be a good idea to find the brains behind all this," Max bit her bottom lip for a second, lost in thought.

"Any ideas?" she finally asked, figuring that Alec had a plan even before he spoke.

"Pfft, C'mon, Maxie, I always have ideas," he answered before cracking a wicked smirk. He saw the usual skepticism on her face but the accompanying acerbic comment remained unsaid.

"What'll we need for this plan?" Max asked.

This communication thing just might work, Alec thought hopefully. If they could communicate they could work on trust.

This better work, 494, you've come this far, he told himself.

"Let's raid the big house, see if we can make something a little stronger than that acid for our guests. Wouldn't want to disappoint." He couldn't help the cocky grin that broke across his face or the sharp glint in his eye.

 **The Sewer …**

White motioned for his lieutenant to hold back, let the two bumbling civilians enter the fallout shelter first. No need to waste superior bred resources in case of a trap.

"Have all the troops been issued noise cancelling gear?" The stone faced soldier affirmed that the gear had been issued.

White and his lieutenant followed Elroy and Wally through the maze of sewers to the freshly sealed hole between shit tunnel and fallout shelter. Two of White's men stepped forward, each wielding a cutting torch. Within ten minutes they'd cut an entrance large enough for two men at a time to step through. The bounty hunters led the way into the living area only separated from the kitchen by an island, sound cannon in hand. Wally adjusted his headphones nervously. The dogman they'd taken ghosted through his mind. If that was a friend of the creatures they'd captured what else would come looking?

Wally felt Elroy shove him hard, pulling him out of his thoughts. The other man's scant hair, what there was of it greasy, trailed down his weasley features. His mouth moved but Wally could only guess at Elroy's words. Whatever they were Elroy wanted him to keep up. Wally nodded and quickened his step.

That step would lead them all straight into trouble.

Two sets of keen, transgenic ears heard White, his elite strike force, Wally and Elroy enter the sewer tunnel and set to work opening the fallout shelter like a tin can. Time crawled by for the energetic X-5's. Alec sat perfectly still but Max tapped her fingers against her thigh as they sat at the edge of the clearing around the mansion and the fallout shelter ventilation shaft.

Finally, Alec reached out and laid his hand over hers, pinning her tapping fingers. Max looked from their joined hands to his face. Her pulse sped up when he gently squeezed her fingers and gave a small smile.

She wouldn't have been more surprised if I'd punched her, he thought. Wonder what she'd look like if I kissed her?

"Do you hear that?" Max asked, breaking into Alec's thoughts. Vibrations from the explosion met their feet and worked up their legs as the sound of it met their ears. As they watched a puff of dust and smoke shot up out of the ventilation shaft, followed by a dip beginning to form in the middle of the grass to the right of the swimming pool.

"The sewer and the shelter are falling in. It must have been more unstable than we thought," Max marveled as they stood up to get a better look. The center of the dip fell in first, the sides crumbling as the support structures of the sewer and fallout shelter gave way. Dust billowed out of the hole.

"Nice work," Max grinned, giving Alec a high-five.

"You too," Alec congratulated. "C'mon, let's get back to T.C. before the cops show up." He motioned his head toward the city and their little corner of it.

"Yeah, good idea," Max flipped her hair back over her shoulder as they turned to leave. It would be a long walk back to T.C. Hopefully, the White and his Familiars wouldn't dig out any time soon.


	6. This Kiss

**T.C. …**

From the Pacific thick, gray clouds moved in, bringing rain and darkening Seattle hours earlier than official sunset. As badly as the two X-5's hated being rained on, thanks to their cat DNA, it helped them slip past the Sector Cops and suspicious Normals outside the barriers surrounding the Freak Nation.

"Ugg. I hope the hot water heater's working," Max grumbled, her dark hair plastered to her head from hours in the steady downpour.

"You need to go to Med Bay, have those burns looked at," Alec reminded her.

"Worry wart," Max teased, her destination never wavering from her apartment building.

"At least let me look at them then," the S.I.C. offered as he trailed behind her. The rain had long ago soaked through every stitch they both wore. Mud and wet boots made for some interesting slurping noises as they walked.

"I'm too tired to resist," Max shrugged. She appreciated his concern for her. Alec hummed in agreement as they trudged up to the top floor.

Being enclosed in the stairwell Max caught a whiff of Alec's scent; a mix of his leather jacket, sweat and sawdust. For a moment she wondered if it were Heat returning.

 _Would it be so bad if it were, … with Alec, a tiny voice asked in the back of her mind._

It's too soon. We just started communicating, she argued with herself. Besides, I'm still in love with Logan, aren't I?

That singular hesitation almost brought her to a halt halfway up the last flight. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Not helpful. Alec's scent spun around her brain like cotton candy. Max hastened to open her door, to flee inside.

"I guess I'll drop in on Idelle and Aston," Alec spoke softly as he followed Max inside her apartment.

"Yeah, I'll shower then head over to Big Fella's, check in on him," Max spoke, going through the motions, hoping to get Alec out of the apartment.

"Here, let me help," Alec offered as Max began to slip out of her jacket.

"The burns are gone. It's fine, really," Max protested, jerking her jacket on again.

"Mmm hmm. Let me see," Alec insisted. He moved to push her sleeve up only to be swatted away.

"I can undress myself." Max winced at her turn of phrase. She knew there'd be a smirk on Alec's face when she looked up.

That's not so bad, she thought when she looked up to see him pursing his lips and examining the window beyond her. Quickly, she slid out of the sopping jacket and hung it on the back of a kitchen chair to dry.

"The burns are gone. See?"

Alec untied the soggy bandages he'd made of gauze and sterile pads. Indeed, the burns had healed, leaving only small dark spots that would be gone before morning. He gently lifted her forearm to examine the largest burn. HIs fingers skimmed the soft flesh of her wrist, sending shivers up her arm and down her spine.

"Max," Alec's low voice pulled her gaze away from his hand and up to look into those beautiful green eyes.

"Are we alright?" He paused, still holding her arm.

"Yeah. We're good," Despite the lump in her throat, Max smiled and slid her arm up until they were holding hands.

"Good," After a little squeeze he released her hand.

"Tell Josh I'll see him tomorrow."

Max told him she would and quietly closed the door behind him.

"See you tomorrow, too," she murmured as she leaned against the door.

Until tomorrow, Max, Alec silently avowed.

Manticorians by genetics were nocturnal, therefore it wasn't a big deal to find Joshua still awake at midnight, sketching.

"Hiya, big fella, just came to check in," Max called from the front door.

"Little fella back." Joshua gave her a bone crunching hug that would have killed an Ordinary. His embrace pinned her arms to her sides as he lifted her off her feet. Max's boots dangled as he lifted her the foot difference between their heights.

"It's good to see you too, Josh," Max couldn't help but smile at his exuberance.

"Where Alec?" the Nomalie asked after setting Max back on her feet.

"He went to his place. It's been a long day." An understatement.

"Alec okay?" Josh's voice betrayed his worry.

"He's fine, just tired." Max glanced around the apartment before coming around to the easel Joshua had fashioned from bits and pieces scavenged from T.C. Scavenging seemed to be the only way to have anything.

"How are you doing? You looked pretty rough in the fallout shelter." Max glanced around the space Joshua had cleaned out for himself. Paintings stood against every wall in stacks two and three deep. Various kinds of art supplies sat on every surface not covered in books.

"Joshua fine. Slept long time," he explained.

"Good. Need anything?" Max asked, opening the cabinets over Joshua's stove.

"Mmm, mac n' cheese?" he answered hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do on the next supply run, big fella." Josh asked for so little that Max made extra effort when he did ask for something.

"Good. Good." Josh grinned.

"I'm gonna drop by H.Q., see what I'm behind on." She knew she'd be behind on everything, even if she hadn't missed two days.

"Goodnight, little fella." Josh walked her to the door.

 **Headquarters …**

Max turned on the desk lamp at the corner of the rusting hulk she occupied in one corner of a gutted office. A couple battered filing cabinets sat in the corner. Mismatched chairs sat on the other side of the desk. Usually, Alec sat sprawled in the best one.

Notes littered the top of the desk as Max sat down. Requests, schedules, plans, and messages all needed her attention. Replacement parts for a generator needed to be found, Logan had called twice, and a dozen other things drew her into the pile of waiting work.

"Might as well try to get some of this done," she muttered to herself, sitting down.

A cool breeze blew a plastic bag across the empty street outside H.Q. as Alec strolled along, his mind on the last two days with Max. Something primal mixed with her cherry lip gloss had caught his attention, drawn him along her path out of Terminal City. He'd smelled other X-5's in Heat since they'd all hit puberty. None of them had dragged him along like Max's scent. Even after the seizure he'd felt the desire for her. Yes, he wanted to bed her. Who wouldn't? Trailing after her he wanted more than a tumble. Seeing her so vulnerable during the seizures reinforced some need he had to protect her. Neither of them wanted to admit any need for the other but need each other they did.

A soft, yellow glow from H.Q. caught Alec's attention. It wasn't like any of the senior staff to be in there at 2 AM by choice. Blurring, he headed up to the head offices of Terminal City to check it out. At the landing outside Max's office he slipped his gun out of his ankle holster and took a deep breath, allowing the prevailing current to bring the intruder's scent his way.

Max. Her scent sashayed it's way across his olfactory senses.

She should be getting some rest but she's here instead, he thought. Stubborn woman.

Alec re-holstered his handgun before walking into the outer office. Paperwork covered the desk and Max sat elbow deep in the center of it. Arms crossed, he leaned against the door frame and watched her for a moment. She leaned on her left hand as she read through several pages before consulting another file.

"Need something?" Max finally asked, her voice toneless.

"Nothing better to do at 2 AM. You?" He eased his way over to the desk and perched himself on the corner facing her.

"Playing catch up, what else," she shrugged.

"How's Joshua?" Sometimes the big Nomalie was the only safe subject between them.

"He's fine. He asked about you. The usual." Max closed the files and began massaging her neck one handed.

"Let me guess, you asked if he needed anything and he wanted either Twinkies or mac n' cheese." Alec watched Max roll her neck to ease the tension. He slid off the desk and came to stand behind her. Cautiously, he began rubbing soothing circles along the back of her neck. Her warm, soft skin covered rock hard muscles as she stiffened at his touch.

"I'll pretend I'm a gentleman, promise," Alec said softly.

"Yeah, Josh asked for mac n' cheese. I told him I'd see what I could do on the next supply run. He rarely asks for anything and gives so much, I hate to disappoint him." Joshua always lent a hand when asked and often volunteered. The younger x-series, once they'd gotten use to him, looked to him as a mentor, a teacher or sorts. He'd organized a library and art classes for anyone interested.

"Yeah, me too. He was in the sewers to take Idelle and Aston coffee or he wouldn't have been nabbed."

"How are they?" Max leaned back to look up at Alec, having finally relaxed under his kneading hands.

"Back to one hundred percent, which is more than I can say for either of us," he joked, toying with a strand of Max's hair. Those dark locks lived up to every fantasy he'd had of touching silk.

"I am tired. I bet you haven't slept yet either, have you." Max smiled, looking up into Alec's eyes.

"Nope," he admitted.

"I'll walk you to your apartment if you'll walk me to mine," she offered.

"Oh yeah, since we live all of fifty feet apart on the same hallway." He shook his head.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." Max stood up, her hair sliding from between Alec's fingers. They left H.Q. together and headed down the block to their apartment building.

"We never did figure out who the mastermind was that captured us," Alec frowned as they stopped at Max's door first. He leaned against the doorframe beside her as she unlocked the padlock that kinda sorta kept people out of her stuff. Any X series serious about getting into an apartment wouldn't hesitate to pick the lock or kick the door off its hinges. Max wanted to make a statement though.

"That's a mystery for another day," Max shrugged, leaning against the door. The height difference meant she had to tilt her head back to look into Alec's face. She felt her pulse speed up at the hungry way he looked at her. He leaned in closer, his head tilted to her left.

He's gonna kiss me, she realized as she moved forward to meet him.

Alec slipped his arms around her as she pressed closer against his body. Her hands grasped his shoulder tightly before moving to his neck. Oh how good it felt to let go or all the reasons not to kiss.

Overwhelmed, they parted. Max stayed close, still in Alec's arms. She saw him purse the lips she'd just kissed and his forehead crease as he stared at the floor.

"The kiss."

That brought his gaze up to meet hers, eyes wide.

"I, I, uh, liked it." Max bit her bottom lip as she watched him.

Alec blinked, not quite believing his ears. A smile brighter than the sun spread across his face as her words sank in. Max felt one of her own follow suit.

"Me too," he spoke low, genuine.

Max eased in closer, meeting his lips again, this time with more heat. Her tongue ghosted over his lips, a hint to open up, which he did.

"Max, promise me you'll kiss me tomorrow?" Trouble swirled in Alec's eyes, almost a pleading.

"Sure," Max assured him, puzzled.

"Promise?" he asked, his teeth pulling at his bottom lip.

"I promise I'll kiss you next time I see you." Max touched his cheek lightly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good night," Soft as a feather, Alec brushed a kiss over her forehead and gave her a little squeeze before pulling away.

"Good night, Alec," Max waved. She walked into her apartment with a grin as big as the Pacific Ocean and dropped into her bed still feeling Alec's arms around her.

Alec drifted down the hall and into his apartment, his feet barely touching the ground.

We kissed, we really kissed, he thought as he brushed his teeth and prepared for bed.

She didn't kick my ass, and she said she liked it, he wondered. And I get to kiss her again when I see her. He hadn't felt this excited about anything in a long time. For the moment nothing mattered, not White and the Familiars, not the Orinaries, and not the pressure of running Terminal City. Only Max and that kiss meant anything.

 **The End**

Author's Note; Should there be a sequel? Yes or No? TYK


End file.
